


Home

by katling



Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age: Inquisition, Dragon Age: Origins
Genre: Alistair being Alistair, F/M, Fluff, M/M, background Cullen Rutherford/Dorian Pavus, mentions of kinloch
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-03
Updated: 2016-10-03
Packaged: 2018-08-19 07:45:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,989
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8196508
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/katling/pseuds/katling
Summary: Warden-Commander Cousland returns home early with the answer she was looking for. When she can't find Alistair where he's supposed to be, she heads for Skyhold where more than one reunion occurs.





	

**Author's Note:**

> So… this idea came into my head and I had to write it. I don’t think it’s that great but it was one of those things that I had to write down to get it out of my head so I could move onto other things. This is the obligatory Warden Cousland coming home and I tied in a bit of her remembering Cullen as well. It's just a bit of headcanony stuff.
> 
> This was originally in my compilation [Inquisition Allsorts](http://archiveofourown.org/works/3523040). I’m splitting it up because it was getting too unwieldy with too many pairings in the one place. So if you think you’ve read this before, you probably have, either at Inquisition Allsorts or over on my main tumblr, [tellmevarric](http://tellmevarric.tumblr.com/) or my sideblog [talesoftheinquisiton](http://talesoftheinquisition.tumblr.com/), where I now put all my fic.

Warden-Commander Elissa Cousland looked at the bulk of Skyhold looming in the distance and gave a sigh of relief. She had been half thinking she’d taken a wrong turn somewhere in the Frostbacks but the fortress was simply far better hidden than she’d expected. Which in hindsight made sense. It wouldn’t have remained lost for so long if it wasn’t well hidden. But she’d found it now and she estimated she’d reach the fortress by mid-afternoon, barring anything ghastly happening.

She was just glad to be home and even better, she had the answer she’d been seeking. But that wasn’t why she was riding towards Skyhold. The last word she’d had from Alistair was that he was heading there with the Champion and she wanted more than anything else to see him and just lose herself in her husband’s embrace. It had been difficult enough to leave him behind but… it had been necessary. Now she had succeeded and they would not be apart again if she had any say in it.

She also thought that Skyhold might be the best place to get some answers to some other questions she had. About the rumours of disappearing Wardens for a start. She hadn’t had time to stop in at Vigil’s Keep. She’d sent word to Sigrun and Nathaniel but had yet to hear back from them. That was a bit worrying since she ought to have by now. But Alistair was her priority. She could deal with the rest later.

The sun was hanging low in the sky when she finally approached the gates of Skyhold and she brought her horse to a halt as guards appeared to block her path.

“Hold, Warden, and identify yourself,” one of the guards said, his expression wary.

“I am Warden-Commander Elissa Cousland,” she replied, not even slightly offended by their caution. In fact, she approved. It spoke of good discipline in the Inquisition soldiers.

The guard’s eyes widened at her words and he bowed before looking at her with awe. “Warden-Commander! We… we weren’t expecting you.”

Elissa smiled wryly. “My return was a bit unexpected.” She raised an eyebrow. “Is my husband here?” He gave her a blank look and she smirked. Their marriage wasn’t widely known but she’d be damned if she called him anything else. “Alistair?”

The guard looked startled then he nodded. “Er, yes, Warden-Commander. The army returned from Adamant Fortress three days ago. I believe Warden Alistair was planning to leave in the next day or two though.”

Elissa frowned at that. Leave? And go where? Nevermind. She’d find out soon enough. She grinned at the awe-struck guards. “May I pass?”

The guards jumped and stepped aside. “O…Of course, Warden-Commander! Welcome to Skyhold.”

Elissa chuckled as she nudged her horse forward. It wasn’t the first time she’d been greeted like that. It was always odd but she’d gotten used to it. She found that if she ignored the stammering and stares, people tended to get on with it after a while.

She noticed the crow fly over head towards the fortress and thus she wasn’t overly surprised when she found a welcoming party waiting for her when she came through the gates into the lower courtyard. However when she saw the man standing just a little apart, smiling adoringly at her, she ignored the welcoming party in favour of scrambling off her horse and hurling herself into his arms.

“Alistair,” she whispered before pulling back and kissing him. He returned her kiss just as fervently and for a long moment, they were the only two people in the world.

“Welcome back, my love,” Alistair said when they finally separated. He couldn’t stop smiling nor could he tear his eyes away from his wife. She looked tired and worn and there was a scar running along the length of her jaw on the left side of her face that hadn’t been there before. But she also looked quietly triumphant as she always did when she’d succeeded at a seemingly impossible task.

“Elissa.”

The warm musical voice was very familiar and Elissa turned with a grin.

“Leliana!” She reluctantly broke away from Alistair to hug her friend. “It’s been far too long.”

“Yes, it has,” Leliana said, smiling broadly. “But we’ve both been busy.” She drew Elissa forward. “Let me introduce you to everyone. This is our Inquisitor, Tegan Trevelyan. The Inquisition’s ambassador, Josephine Montilyet. Our military advisor, Commander Cullen.”

Leliana’s introduction had been smooth and calm and she made no indication that either of them knew Cullen. Elissa decided to follow her friend’s lead and she smiled and shook hands with them all. She noticed Cullen seemed a little strained and she couldn’t help but compare the man standing in front of her with the one she’d met briefly in Kinloch Hold. This man seemed… better. Calmer. More mature. She approved and made a note to catch up with him later, to smooth things over if nothing else. For now though, she allowed herself to be drawn into the main hall with the others to hear about what had been going on and to meet the rest of the Inquisitor’s companions.

 

*******

Later that evening, Elissa and Alistair walked hand in hand across the bridge that lead from the main building to the tower they’d been told Cullen had claimed.

“Why are we doing this again?” Alistair asked. “Not that I object. I’ve been working with Cullen for a few weeks now. He’s very good at his job but…”

“Did you know him?” Elissa asked, breaking into her husband’s babble with fond but practised ease. “I mean, before we found him the Circle.”

Alistair smiled wryly. “I did. Not well but yes, I knew him when we were recruits. He took the whole Templar thing much more seriously than I ever did so we… didn’t exactly move in the same circles, so to speak. But he was always decent and helpful.”

“So you’ve been working on that basis then?”

“Pretty much,” Alistair admitted. “He hasn’t brought up Kinloch so I figured it was best to steer clear of the subject.”

They reached the door by now and Elissa knocked firmly.

“Come in,” came the brisk response from inside.

They walked in to find Cullen poring over a seemingly endless supply of paperwork. He looked up and drew in a sharp breath when he saw who it was.

“I… Warden-Commander,” he said finally with a nod to Elissa. “Alistair.”

“You can call me Elissa, you know? The world won’t end if you do,” Elissa said wryly.

“I…” Cullen rubbed the back of his neck in what seemed to be a nervous gesture. “I’ll try.”

Elissa moved into the room and closed the door behind them. “I didn’t want to make an issue of it in front of the others but I…” She smiled softly. “Well, I haven’t seen you in a long time and you… weren’t in very good shape when we left and I…” She shrugged. “I always kind of wished we’d been able to do more than just grab the mages’ agreement to help and run, so to speak. We left the Tower is such a mess.”

Cullen rubbed his neck again and looked down at his desk. “I… I’m fine. I wasn’t at the time but I am now.” He looked a bit shame-faced. “I… really should apologise for what I said. It was entirely uncalled for.”

He would have continued but Elissa was holding up one hand to stop him.

“You don’t need to apologise, Cullen,” she said. “You’d been through… a lot. It was understandable.” She smiled a little. “I take it you’ve had a change of heart about mages then?”

The blush that comment got from Cullen was unexpected as was the bashful expression. When Alistair chuckled, she turned on her husband with a mock glare. He clearly knew the cause of that reaction.

“Alright. What haven’t you told me?”

Alistair held his hands up. “Who me? I tell you everything, my love. You know I’m lousy at keeping secrets.”

“Uhuh,” she said sceptically. “Because I’m feeling distinctly out of the loop right now.”

“I… Dorian and I are…” Cullen stammered, his blush intensifying.

Elissa whirled around with a grin. “Oooh! The pretty Tevinter mage?”

Cullen’s reply was cut off by Alistair’s, “Pretty?”

Elissa grinned at her husband. “He’s very pretty but not as pretty as you.”

“I’m not sure if I’m pleased or offended right now,” Alistair said wryly. “I’d much prefer ruggedly handsome to pretty.”

“You’re ruggedly handsome as well,” Elissa replied soothingly.

“Leliana keeps telling me to stand there and look pretty in the War Room,” Cullen said. He looked amused.

“Leliana has spent too much time with me,” Elissa replied with a grin. She sobered. “Has Leliana been… alright? I know she was the Left Hand of the Divine and the Divine’s death must have hit her hard.”

“It has but she’s… as terrifying as ever,” Cullen said.

Elissa chuckled. “It’s always so hard to think of Leliana as being terrifying.”

“She really is,” Alistair said, coming up behind Elissa and wrapping his arms around her. She leaned back into his embrace. “It’s scary. _She’s_ scary. I think she’s scarier now than Morrigan ever was. In fact, this place is full of scarily competent people. It makes me feel inadequate.”

“You should have spent more time paying attention in training,” Cullen said dryly. “Then you could be scarily competent too.”

“Ouch.” Alistair pretended to grab at his heart. “That was a low blow.”

“True though.”

Alistair nodded. “I can’t deny it. What can I say? Templar training just wasn’t for me. I think everyone knew that.”

“So you became a Grey Warden instead,” Elissa said brightly.

“Darkspawn and Archdemons are _much_ better than Templar training.” Alistair paused. “Oh, wait… maybe not.”

“You know… I found it,” Elissa said soberly abruptly. “The answer.”

Alistair’s eyes widened and even Cullen looked interested.

“You did? We can end the Calling?”

Elissa nodded. “It’s not easy but it can be done. The only drawback is that it removes the taint entirely so we… wouldn’t be Grey Wardens anymore.”

“But it can be done at any time?” Cullen asked. “Without it causing permanent effects if someone has been a Warden for years?”

Elissa nodded. “Yes and I think I know what you’re thinking about. Retirement. We can still have Wardens but when the Calling starts, we can remove the taint and free them. It means being a Warden is no longer a death sentence but a… sacrifice you make for the safety of Thedas to guard against the Blight but one you can have an honourable retirement from.”

“The best of both worlds,” Alistair said.

“It doesn’t reduce the danger of the Joining though,” Elissa added then she sighed. “Given everything that happened at Adamant, I just wish I’d found it sooner.”

She’d been told the full story of what had happened to the Wardens and while she was angry at Clarel for her blindness, she was more concerned with what had happened to the Fereldan Wardens since neither Sigrun nor Nathaniel had been among the numbers at Adamant nor had there been more than a bare handful of the Wardens she’d recruited. Given that, she had some hope that Nathaniel and Sigrun been able to keep her Wardens out of the worst of it.

“You found it,” Alistair said quietly. “So it doesn’t ever need to happen again.”

“So what will you two be doing now?” Cullen asked, breaking the silence that had fallen.

“We’re going to Weisshaupt then we’re going to go and find my Wardens,” Elissa said. “There were only a few at Adamant.”

“Together?”

“Yes,” Alistair said firmly as his arms tightened around his wife and Elissa chuckled.

“Yes, together,” she said. “We’ve both had enough of the separation. It was too much. Whatever we do now, we will do together.”


End file.
